Beaten Aussie doubles star says Special Ks crowd a ‘turn off’ for tennis fans

Fellow Aussies Purcell and Ebden were beaten by Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the final 7-5, 6-4 as the Special K’s drew a packed crowd wherever they had gone in their doubles journey at the Australian Open. Max Purcell was “grateful” that the crowd for the men’s doubles didn’t go as hard on him and Matt Ebden, but reiterated that “there’s a line” when it comes to a crowd. Given that Purcell and Ebden were a fellow all-Aussie doubles pair, the crowd inside Rod Laver Arena seemed to go a little easier. But there was still some unruly scenes, as Purcell complained to the umpire over an unruly spectator who yelled just before he was about to serve. The supporter was ultimately ejected from the venue. Purcell maintained that he loved the atmosphere that the Special K’s brought with them, but felt that perhaps overseas fans might have had a different perspective on the scenes. “Yeah, obviously there’s a line where you don’t want to cross it,” Purcell said. “Obviously we don’t want people being thrown out, right? “If people are doing that then they’re obviously not doing the right thing and respecting the players. “I think it was great for ticket sales here, but I’m not so sure how it was taken overseas. “If you’re watching some of Nick and Thanasi’s matches earlier in the week and you’re overseas, maybe you get turned off tennis a little bit. “Look, I’m excited that I got to play in front of such a big crowd. “The fact we are Australian, I don’t think they went as hard as they have the rest of them. “I’m grateful for that. “It’s good to see a lot of people supporting Australian tennis.”